Luke Mitchell 2011

Author: Courtney Hampson
| Photographer: Photography by Anne

He saunters up the stairs and casually swipes his sandy brown hair from his brow, just before it falls across his eyes. He gets a hug, a kiss, and a “good to see you, sweetie” from every server at Sunrise Café. He folds himself into a chair, and in true southern fashion orders some grits… and a breakfast burrito. He warns me that he just ran a few miles, so he’ll be “scarfing down the burrito.”

At breakfast, Luke Mitchell reveals that he has made an important decision: “I’m not going back to college,” he said. “I’m going to see if I can make a career out of music. I’ve got to do it while I’m young.” So his formal education is on the back burner for now. “I’ll go back… I know I have a lot to learn.”

The young Mitchell—just 20—waxed poetic about the life of a musician. “I know what I do is not socially normal. I work odd hours, which tends to alienate me from others.” Alienate him from others, yet move him closer to his family. After all, he said, “My family members are my biggest fans. They keep coming to my shows no matter how many times they have seen me perform.”

His friends are mostly musicians, too—and also “socially abnormal,” one would surmise. Mitchell has been making music with friends since his early teens. He and his buddy Kieran Daly launched “New Kids on the Rock” when they were little. But, that was just the beginning. With a sheepish grin Mitchell asked me if I’d heard of Lambtron (named for a Pokemon character), or The Great Escape, or Luke Mitchell and the Footlongs.

“No?” he chuckled, “What about the Gnomes? We were super-famous; we blew up.” I shook my head no, again, and he asked, “When did you move here? Ah, we must have been before your time.”

(Oh yes, he’s a comedian too.)

Mitchell and his mid-teen band mates did strike gold with the Gnomes about five years ago. Mitchell eventually quit the band, but fondly remembers the “money rolling in” and hinted about his interest in a reunion tour, The Gnomes: where are they now?

A family affair
“My mom used to date musicians,” Mitchell said with a smirk. “Growing up, there was always music in the house.” Mitchell’s stepfather and member of Hilton Head’s home-grown band the Bonzo Brothers gave him his first drum set. And his father and mother avidly support Mitchell’s dream-chasing. Mitchell recently moved back to Hilton Head Island, and is living with his dad, who has graciously approved the garage renovation that has yielded a pseudo-recording studio.

The apples don’t fall far from the family tree. Mitchell’s sister Hannah is the lead singer of the “Steppin Stones”—a band of teens who have been playing their parent’s music at venues around the Lowcountry for the last few years. (This summer you can find them under the big oak at Harbour Town.)

Making music
When asked about his first album, High Expectations, Mitchell said, “It’s archaic; I don’t even know who that person is anymore.” Since then, he’s grown and benefited from the tutelage of a cadre of music legends—namely, Jim Scott, who has seven Grammy’s on his shelf for his work with Tom Petty, Wilco, Rolling Stones, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

As Mitchell was working on the songs for his second album, he got up the nerve to call Scott cold. He dropped the name of Jack Sherman, who played guitar on Mitchell’s first album and was a friend of Scott’s. Mitchell joked that he said, “Hello,” and then squeezed Sherman’s name into the conversation as quickly as he could so Scott wouldn’t hang up. And it worked. Scott was willing to listen. So Mitchell sent him his stuff and then waited. He waited an agonizing four months before he heard back. When he finally got the call, it was a green light.

So, Mitchell jet-sets to Scott’s Los Angeles recording studio, which he likened to “heaven on earth for musicians,” and they record “Row Boat Row.” Titled as a tribute to growing up on Point Comfort Road, Mitchell says the album “just sounds like home.”

Appropriately, the official launch party for “Row Boat Row” is slated for June 25 at Remy’s, just down the road from “home.” And it’s no surprise that sister Hannah and the Steppin Stones will open for Mitchell.

More Than Music
After listening to a preview of “Row Boat Row,” there is no doubt that Mitchell has the vocal chops to make it. Smooth and soulful, his voice is soothing, and his lyrics have a rhythm and spirit to them that can easily overtake you. (And make you miss your turn on your way back from the island to Bluffton. True story.)

But it’s about more than writing and singing songs for Mitchell. “These days you need to know all elements of the business if you want to make it a career,” he said. And he wants it. Bad. “My goal is to serve the music and let that lead me. I need to be technically good enough to do anything in this business.” Which is why, in addition to songwriter and singer, Mitchell also hones his skills on the piano, rhythm guitar, drums, and in the producer’s seat. “In this moment, I’ll do anything to make this a career,” he said.

Even though he’s been at it for years, he still can’t eat a meal before a show. The nerves get to him. But, it isn’t a fear of messing up—everyone misses lyrics. It is the deep desire to put on a good show.

“The performance means nothing if you don’t connect with your audience,” Mitchell said. “The more ego you have, the worse you perform.”

This former Hilton Head Island High School “Student of the Year” is ambitious and anxious. He can’t sit still for 20 minutes. There is no such thing as down time, Mitchell said. “I get restless and feel like I should be working on music. Music is all I want. We can’t help what we do. Music calls to you. I can’t stop it. I guess I never really started it either. It just happened.”

About Us

In September of 2006, Celebrate Hilton Head (CH2) burst onto the scene with a fresh perspective on Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and the surrounding Low Country. At the helm was a team of young women (all under 30!) with no experience whatsoever in the publishing industry. The first year they made up the rules as they went along. CH2 (and CB2 – Celebrate Bluffton and Beyond), has evolved into a well-respected publication with over 150 advertisers and a distribution to over 47,000 locals and visitors each month.

Content ranges from Interesting Islander profiles and arts and entertainment pieces to food and wine topics and Hilton Head and Bluffton Business Profiles. CH2’s Bachelor of the Year Contest has blossomed into a greatly anticipated media event every year with viral marketing (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) contributing to the annual readership of those issues pertaining to the contest and over 700 people attending the Bachelor of the Year party held every October held at a local Hilton Head or Bluffton entertainment spot.

CH2 strives to give back to the community in which they have been so successful by sponsoring charitable events in both Hilton Head Island and Bluffton (Bluffton’s MayFest, put on by the Bluffton Rotary), donating editorial space to worthy organizations (Bold Strokes, Volunteers in Medicine, March of Dimes), and making the Hilton Head Island Rec Center the recipient of monies raised in conjunction with the Bachelor of the Year Contest.